An artist named the Avener did a remix of Masters of War a few days back...

I don’t know much about this mixer/producer the Avener, but I do know that I’m not a big fan of this odd remix of the original Masters of War. If you want to listen to it, it’s actually under the “singles” area on Dylan’s Spotify. I don’t want to completely disregard this man’s work, I know that he’s well known in that music genre, and that there’s already been good reviews. Not only that, but this has the potential to introduce people to Dylan’s music that haven’t heard it before.

But it all sounds so excessive. I’m not opposed to trying something new, I love the hip hop and mixing elements to Tom Waits’ Real Gone, and Leonard Cohen’s last single You Want it Darker got a cool remix around the time the original single dropped. But with this, it’s taking a song that works quite well with just a guitar and a voice and slapping bells and whistles on it. It doesn’t add anything worthwhile in my opinion.

Before anyone could heavily criticize the artist, myself included, it should be noted that apparently Dylan’s group contacted the Avener about a remix a little under a year ago. This reminds me of a comment writer Anthony DeCurtis made about Cohen’s decision to use Phil Spector on Death of a Ladies Man:

“What, were you going to Phil Spector for subtlety?”

So I’m sure they all knew what they were in for with this remix. I’m happy he got to work with/for Dylan, and maybe this can open new doors to a new audience. But it leaves me cold. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

I think they just want to reach younger people with his music. They did a nice job on it, imo. His voice does get a bit buried towards the end, but overall it's pretty tasteful as far as these things go.

I think they just want to reach younger people with his music. They did a nice job on it, imo. His voice does get a bit buried towards the end, but overall it's pretty tasteful as far as these things go.

I feel like they could reach out to a younger audience in different ways then this. It’s not terrible, but Masters of War? It doesn’t need all that. What about Jokerman, or other tracks off Infidels? Maybe not a complete reworking like this song, but they could do something interesting with it. It would probably be an unknown song to people who haven’t combed through his albums.

I don’t know, but the last time people tweaked Dylan’s tunes to appeal to a younger market it became Empire Burlesque (and I kind of like that album, but still). I also know that I sound like an old grump complaining about the sound, but I’m not far off age wise to the group they might be trying to appeal to. That being said, I don’t think Dylans music requires all that. Now, if he wanted to try a new song/album using this kind of production, and didn’t just hand it over to someone to give it a paint job, I could say I’d be interested. Cohen did it, and I think it really worked.

Of course, this is just a single. It’s a little side project, and I’m glad they got to try something different.

Well...I think the message will resonate with young people, but the solo acoustic performance may not. At least that’s what they seem to be thinking...his old music resonated just fine with me when I was young. I’d also like to hear some modern song nds on new turns, as my ch as I liked the 60-80 year old stylings of his last few albums.

They did a remix of When You Go Your Way a few years ago but it didn’t signal any change of direction on Dylan’s part. It was just marketing. I suspect this is much the same.

Strangely enough this mix reminded me of God's Gonna Cut You Down by Johnny Cash. The ethereal sound is interesting, but I prefer the original by a mile. For me it seems unnecessary to modernise the song. It's one of Bob's finest tune and is very accessible as it is. And looking at the views, it seems it doesn't have that much of a success. A simple music video would have done the trick just fine.

I feel like they could reach out to a younger audience in different ways then this. It’s not terrible, but Masters of War? It doesn’t need all that.

I wonder what some younger persons thinks after hearing this 'remix' as their introduction to the song and then deciding to seek out the original. My bet is the original is too plain for them, they go back to the remix. Or, I think mashup is a more appropriate term for something like this.

I wonder what some younger persons thinks after hearing this 'remix' as their introduction to the song and then deciding to seek out the original. My bet is the original is too plain for them, they go back to the remix. Or, I think mashup is a more appropriate term for something like this.

bob's work can never be transferred to that idiom because it comes from the haunted ballad tradition.

tom's classicism came from the fifties' atomic absurdism, and he learned from bob how to balladize that - a reverse process to bob's,full circle, and its triumph in some ways, being his neighbor and brother

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